A 30-year-old office building in the city of Eagan that once housed Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota is starting anew. Two St. Paul-based developers have taken upon themselves the task of redeveloping the 10-story Waterview office tower as a 113-unit luxury apartment community. Plans are to complete the renovation and retrofitting work by August 2015.

The result of a partnership between At Home Apartments and Interstate Partners, CityVue Apartments will be situated at 3435 Promenade Ave. and will feature 113 one- and two-bedroom residential units, a fitness center, a two-story covered parking ramp and a rooftop patio. The tower will offer easy access to I-35E and I-494, as well as various entertainment destinations such as O’Leary Park and Lake, the Eagan Town Centre Shopping and Dining district, the Minnesota Zoo and the new Twin Cities Premium Outlet Mall.

Black and Dew is working as general contractor for the project, while R.J. Ryan is building the parking ramp and the commercial part of the structure. According to theStar Tribune, the building is part of the larger CityVue Commons development at Yankee Doodle Road and Promenade Avenue, which is set to incorporate more than 30,000 square feet of retail space.

At Home Apartments President Mark Cashill explained that the demand for quality housing in the Twin Cities is growing, “as people increasingly put a premium on proximity to work, closeness to area attractions, and desire for the diversity of urban culture.” Cashill also mentioned that such live-work-play communities come with elevated construction costs, high land prices and a lack of suitable available space. Nonetheless, he feels confident that “the demand for housing, and corresponding rent levels, more than justifies new housing alternatives within Minneapolis-St. Paul and first-tier suburbs of the Twin Cities.”

A number of luxury apartment projects are currently underway or were recently completed in the Twin Cities, including Everwood Development’s The Grain Belt Apartments in northeast Minneapolis and 100 Hennepin, a mixed-use project developed by Shorenstein and Ryan Cos. in the North Loop.